Author: DecipherAdmin

This blog is concerned with the arrival of a significant new form of VOD advertising – ‘platform’ VOD. This is the VOD advertising format that is slowly emerging on TV set top boxes in the UK and other TV markets.

In the UK ‘platform VOD advertising has been taking some time to get established. On Virgin set top boxes in the UK there have been experiments with VOD advertising going for a few years, but only with the recent upgrade of its systems is it properly taking off. On Sky+ boxes (where until recently, it was impossible to insert adverts into VOD programmes) we are promised a summer roll out of ad insertion. On the Youview based boxes and the other free-to-air platforms, platform VOD has been treated as an extension of ‘player’ VOD – formats delivered through a broadcaster app like ITV Player or 4OD. It has been bundled and sold within the broader VOD advertising deals, and has not been broken out for reporting or measurement purposes. more “VOD Ads On TV Are Different to VOD Ads On The Web..and It Matters!”…

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How we groaned. And, days on, how we continue to. The morning that followed a tumultuous day before – the day that had seen the industry react to the BBC Trust’s backing for the closure of BBC Three, banishing the channel to an uncertain online-only future – began ordinarily enough, with the publication of the conclusions of Ofcom’s Third Public Service Broadcasting Review. The final document – if not headline-grabbing – brought to the surface the significant contribution made by the PSBs, and yet was cognisant of the challenges ahead facing them. Then something odd happened. And it’s led us to the view that July – though only thirteen days old – has not been the proudest month for the UK’s TV journalism community. Permit me to explain. more “TV and the 16-24s: Careless Whispers”…

This week, Decipher released the latest figures from Mediabug Wave 6, our bi-annual media consumption tracker. The findings paint a clear picture of growth in video on demand (VOD) viewing, particularly amongst older age groups, and fuelled in part by an increased accessibility to get video on demand services such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer, and Now TV to the TV screen.

The high value placed on VOD accessibility to TV screens is no state secret, however what is interesting to track is the changing ways in which viewers are choosing to do so. Whilst VOD via Pay TV set top boxes has been around for quite a number of years, it is growth in consumption through ‘Over The Top’ (OTT) devices that has caught our eye. From weighing up Mediabug data with industry news, I think a battle worth watching will be between Smart TV’s and Google Chromecast: two slightly different ways of watching video on demand on your TV. more “Will Chromecast be significant in the UK?”…

New figures from Decipher’s bi-annual media consumption report Mediabug have shown how growth in usage of subscription VOD services like Netflix and Amazon Prime has been solely due to those over the age of 35.

Mediabug Wave 6, released today, reports that 30% of UK consumers use an SVOD service each month, an increase of +4% in 6 months. However this growth has come from older age groups, with 35-44’s (+7%), 45-54’s (+15%), and 55+ (+8%) age ranges all increasing their usage, whilst 16-24’s dropped 12% over the same period. Both Netflix and Amazon Prime grew their subscriber bases over this period, with Netflix adding +6% to their paid subscribers, and Amazon Prime adding +3%. more “Growth in Subscription Video on Demand Driven by over 35’s – says Decipher’s latest Mediabug report”…

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The use of Periscope during Mayweather v Pacquiano raises interesting questions

Periscope is a streaming media app owned by Twitter. A consumer, with the Periscope app installed on their smart phone or tablet, can use their camera to film something and send a live stream of what they are filming over the web. The integration with Twitter means that a user’s Twitter followers are notified of the live stream, and can click through to it directly from Twitter.

On Saturday night, boxing fans in the live audience for the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas were using the app to send live streams of the event out over the web to their Twitter followers. Dick Costello – CEO of Twitter –rather foolishly declared Periscope the ‘winner’ of the fight, incurring the wrath of the rights holders for seemingly endorsing piracy. more “Down Periscope”…

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This week we saw the second of two strategic announcements from senior execs in the state-owned television industry. Following Tony Hall’s recent announcement of an ‘internet-first’ strategy for the BBC, France Télévisions’ Director of Future Media Eric Scherer declared at a trade show this week that “the TV industry will now have to work on a ‘mobile-first’ strategy.

From ‘internet-first’ to ‘mobile-first’ in a month is breathless stuff. But we, like many in the TV industry, were left wondering what either of these things actually mean, let alone if they are a good idea? These questions have to be asked given that, after 20 years of internet and mobile disruption, around 90% of TV is still consumed via linear broadcast (with recorded broadcast content accounting for 7% or the remainder). more “The Problem With ‘Internet-First’ TV”…

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For the latest version of Decipher’s VOD Audit, we have added a new area of interest – the ‘Buy & Keep’ movie! This is the newly emerging function by which viewers can purchase a permanent digital copy of a movie, rather than just renting it from their TV service.

Both Sky and BT have added this function to their set top boxes in recent months and TalkTalk are expected to do the same by integrating their recent BlinkBox acquisition. For now, the VOD report just compares the services from Sky and BT. more “Sky Winning In the New ‘Buy & Keep’ Battleground”…

Fresh from its initial unveiling and then its release to the US market in the Autumn, late last month Google’s latest streaming device – the Nexus Player – hit the UK shelves. The device, retailing at £79.99 (roughly the same price as Amazon’s competitor Fire TV streaming box), is – significantly – the first to use the new Android TV operating system (OS), coming later this the smart television screens of Sony, Sharp and TP Vision. It comes complete with the “cast” technology offered by Google’s content-less Chromecast, its Wi-Fi streaming dongle, and also offers content and services through apps from the Google Play store, among others. more “Google, Android TV and the Nexus Player: reasons to be excited”…

There is a new row brewing between broadcasters and the platforms and its going to be a good one. We had a hint at it after the recent Fox/Dish legal battle. It hit our shores here in the UK with the arrival of the EE box and its Replay Service in particular. The next confrontation will come with the new Sky box later this year. There have been strong hints that Sky are going to import a ‘Replay’ functionality that has proved popular in the Italian Sky box. What all three examples have in common is that they feature the platform operator (who control the set top box), using the PVR to create a catch up function without the agreement of the broadcaster. more “There Is A New Row Brewing…..!”…

Late last year, HBO and CBS in the US announced web streaming services that sent the US trade press into paroxysms of ‘cord-cutting’ hyperbole. ‘HBO Go’ and ‘CBS All Access’ were feted as marking ‘the end of TV’. At the time we thought it was strange that their launch was also reported breathlessly by the UK trade press, as though it had some strategic relevance to us. In Decipher, we barely gave it a nod. The main reason is that we have had both the equivalent launches here already without the world caving in (for HBO read Sky’s NOW TV [left, below], and for CBS read ITV Pay). They have had only limited impact on our market. more “The US and UK TV markets: the differences and why they’re important”…